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Omarosa reveals she also taped post-firing conversation with President Trump

Manigault Newman, whose tell-all book “Unhinged” is out Tuesday, shared a new recording during an interview on Monday’s episode of NBC’s “Today.” In the tape, which she says is from a conversation with President Trump that took place after her firing, he appears surprised and says, "Nobody told me."

Just as Washington was wrapping its brain around the news that ex-White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman had secretly recorded her December 2017 firing by Chief of Staff John Kelly in the Situation Room, she revealed she also taped a conversation she says she had with Trump afterward.

Manigault Newman, whose tell-all book “Unhinged” is out Tuesday, shared the new tape during an interview on Monday’s episode of NBC’s “Today.” In it, Trump expresses surprise about her dismissal, saying, “nobody told me about it.”

While the latest recording appears to show Trump was unaware of the firing, Manigault Newman speculated that Trump may have instructed Kelly to fire her, but offered no evidence to back up her theory.

Manigault Newman hinted there was more to come, saying: “There’s a lot of very corrupt things happening in the White House and I am going to blow the whistle on a lot of them.”

“There’s a lot of very corrupt things that are happening in the White House, and I am going to blow the whistle on a lot of this.”

"Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said Ok. People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I heard really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me - until she got fired!"

Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said Ok. People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I would rarely see her but heard....

...really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me - until she got fired!

He continued, "While I know it’s 'not presidential' to take on a lowlife like Omarosa, and while I would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!"

While I know it’s “not presidential” to take on a lowlife like Omarosa, and while I would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!

“If I didn’t have these recordings, no one in America would believe me,” Manigault Newman said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," where she was promoting "Unhinged.” “I am so glad that I did because now we can put to bed all those false rumors,” she added.

“Meet the Press” aired brief parts of the taped conversation, which included Kelly speaking to Manigault Newman about her reputation and some "pretty serious integrity violations" against her.

“If we make this a friendly departure we can all ... look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation without any difficulty in the future relative to your reputation,” Kelly said on the tape.

In response to the clip, Manigault Newman, 44, told Chuck Todd that Kelly was trying to threaten her into silence.

"The chief of staff ... under the direction of the president of the United States threatening me on damage to my reputation and things getting ugly for me. That is downright criminal," she said.

During the interview, Manigault Newman called President Trump a “con,” a "liar" and a “racist,” doubling down on her claim that the current administration does not care about African-Americans. Her comments come a day after Trump called "The Apprentice" alum a "low life."

"I was the only African-American at the table. ... People are making decisions about us, without us," she said. “When I left … I realized they can care less about African-Americans at the table.”

Manigault Newman — best known as the villain of Trump's “Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice” television and often referred to by her first name, followed Trump from his reality television show to his presidential campaign, emerging as one of his most fiercely loyal supporters. She was rewarded with a top White House job when Trump won the White House.

Manigault Newman’s official title was assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. She made $179,700, the top salary allowed by law for White House aides.

Manigault Newman acknowledged she was "complicit" while defending Trump in the past.

“Being used by Donald Trump for so long, I was like the frog in the hot water,” she said. “I was complicit with this White House deceiving this nation. They continue to deceive this nation by how mentally declined he is.”

In her book, Manigault Newman wrote that she heard people describe Trump using the racial slur, although she had not personally heard it. However, she told Todd on Sunday that she was able to hear the tape for herself after her book published. (During a Friday interview with NPR, she made it sound as though she'd written in the book that she'd heard the tape. She did not, according to a USA TODAY editor who read an advance copy.)

"I heard his voice as clear as you and I are sitting here," Manigault Newman told Todd.

The White House responded to Manigault Newman’s appearance on “Meet the Press,” referring to her as a “disgruntled former White House employee.”

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room, shows a blatant disregard for our national security – and then to brag about it on national television further proves the lack of character and integrity.”.

For the White House chief of staff to conduct such a meeting – especially with an employee whose job is not related to national security – in the Situation Room rather than his office is unusual. However, if Kelly suspected that she was indeed recording conversations, he may have felt she would be less likely to do so there since staffers are usually required to hand over their phones before entering.

A number of people were quick to call Manigault Newman’s secret recordings a breach of national security and a possible violation of the law.

"I've never heard of a more serious breach of protocol," said Ned Price, who served as spokesman of the National Security Council in the Obama administration, told the Associated Press. "Not only is it not typical, something like this is unprecedented ... The Situation Room is the inner-most sanctum of a secure campus."

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Omarosa Manigault-Newman, 44, former White House Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison, left her White House job this week under disputed circumstances. She says she was not escorted from the premises after a difficult discussion with Chief of Staff John Kelly. Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

TV personality and former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman discusses her time in the White House and secret tapes she's released on "Today," Aug. 13, 2018, in New York. Manigault Newman was promoting her book "Unhinged." Zach Pagano/AP

The former reality TV personality was a contestant on Donald Trump's show 'The Apprentice' in 2004. On April 28, 2018, she arrived to the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, DC with her husband, Pastor John Allen Newman. The two wed in 2017 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The White House announced Manigault-Newman's resignation from her position as director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison would be effective Jan. 20, 2018. In this photograph, she listens during the daily press briefing at the White House on Oct. 27, 2017. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

When Chief of Staff John Kelly took the helm in the White House, Manigault-Newman's ability to reach the President directly was greatly curtailed. Part of her role was to be a liaison between the White House and the black community. Mark Wilson, Getty Images

President Donald Trump (R) is joined by Vice President Mike Pence, White House Director of Communications for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Omarosa Manigault (L) and other staff members during a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus Executive Committee at the White House. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump asked African Americans to support him, saying, "You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed -- what the hell do you have to lose?" Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway left, and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison Omarosa Manigault, 2nd left, and White House communications director Mike Dubke, right, listen as a reporter asks a question during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House. Shawn Thew, EPA

Omarosa Manigault, speaks with reporters during the Cocktails and Convention reception hosted by the Black Republican Caucus of Florida, in Cleveland, OH. She does not enjoy great support in the black community. Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY NETWORK

While the dramatic in-your-face competitor was eventually fired in Donald Trump's reality show, the two hit it off and she has remained extremely loyal to Trump. Omarosa speaks to the media to show her support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after he wins the New York Primary at Trump Towers in Manhattan on April 19, 2016. Carucha L. Meuse, The Journal News

Omarosa makes an entrance on the red carpet for the Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. She made such an impact on Trump's show she's famous enough to go by her first name only. Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY

You've made it when you become a character on 'Saturday Night Live.' Fired 'Apprentice' candidate Omarosa, portrayed by Maya Rudolph, is repeatedly struck in the head by falling objects (culminating in a sidewalk garbage can) when she visits Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" with Tina Fey (left) and Jimmy Fallon (right). Mary Ellen Matthews, NBC